Data Source: Full source description available at https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/50statepie.html#methodology. (Graph: Peter Wagner, 2016)

This graph originally appeared in Correctional Control: Incarceration and supervision by state.

Thinking of the U.S. criminal justice system as one system can be a mistake. There are 50 state systems, plus one in each of the approximately 3,000 counties and often separate systems in the approximately 30,000 municipalities. These differences matter a great deal.